dahrougem2
Registered User
I don't recall him being a disaster per se, he just happened to be a good player on an uproariously bad team year in and year out. I even recall thinking the Habs got away with highway robbery when the Oilers got so little for him in return. Petry has never been anything flashy, but he's always been pretty good.
He was on a disastrous team and asked to do too much. I'm not saying Petry is great, but since he's been established he's been a solid 3/4 and turned into a great 3. EJ was a 3/4 prior to Roy, had a couple good seasons where it looked like he was finally turning it around, then has regressed into being a fringe 4 now. EJ had a higher peak but has aged about as well as week old potato salad.
I think we'll agree to disagree on Petry. No doubt about it he's better than EJ now, and has been for a couple of years but they're both downright disasters to have as your top pairing defensemen.
The difference to me is that EJ has been (was?) a good defensemen for a lot longer than Jeff Petry's been a good defensemen.
Oilers fans here in Edmonton were actually happy he was traded when they moved on from him. Looking back now, it was an awful trade. But make no mistake about it, the man did not have many fans here in Edmonton and it's because he was incredibly soft and inconsistent defensively while putting up hardly any points.